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I have to say, at the very least, the UI is a breath of fresh air compared to new Reddit. New Reddit is just...I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just fe

I have to say, at the very least, the UI is a breath of fresh air compared to new Reddit. New Reddit is just...I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just feels awful to look at.

glenstein 6y ago
Absolutely. It's not a bad interface, and for better or for worse I think this is critically important to get right, and was a huge part of Mastodon's success. I think so many other well-intentioned projects fail because of inscrutable interfaces, so it is good to see the UI taken seriously.
- TulliusCicero 6y ago
  Oh, has Mastodon been successful? I haven't heard much about that.
  - riffic 6y ago
    The ecosystem is very successful: https://twitter.com/freemancw/status/1276287684814594048 https://twitter.com/freemancw/status/1276287684814594048
    - codetrotter 6y ago
      It’s a little bit ironic that the post you link to was posted on Twitter though, isn’t it? :^) Teasing aside, I like Mastodon. I’ve used it a bit myself too, and I have a profile on an instance of it.
      - buzzkillington 6y ago
        Success is not a meaningful metric. Gopher is a success when you browse wikipedia on it.
ehsankia 6y ago
While I agree that new reddit is awful, I still much prefer old reddit to this. Also what's up with this new trend of having the main content width-restricted, but not the header [0]? The new GitHub UI that went live this week has the exact same problem on wide screens. What kind of UX designer ever approved such a mess and why do so many sites do this? The main UI itself, again very width restricted, but also has strange paddings [1] which limit severely the area for the title (which is the most important UI element). Doesn't really make sense to me. The vertical centering is a bit of a mess, and the size of icons is also either way too big or way too small [2]. [0] https://i.imgur.com/gZEWEdJ.png https://i.imgur.com/gZEWEdJ.png [1] https://i.imgur.com/nayP548.png https://i.imgur.com/nayP548.png [2] https://i.imgur.com/XZPToxy.png https://i.imgur.com/XZPToxy.png EDIT: Huh, I hadn't used new reddit in a long time, I actually took a look now and it seems like it has improved significantly. I actually don't hate it as much, it looks much closer to old reddit now, with full width content and much less padding [3] [3] https://i.imgur.com/c1QBucR.png https://i.imgur.com/c1QBucR.png
- buzzert 6y ago
  Agreed. At least old Reddit didn’t require JS to load anything a didn’t show spinners every time you clicked on something.
  - IggleSniggle 6y ago
    "New" reddit (not that new anymore) still _frequently_ just gets stuck on the spinners. Also with some frequency, when navigating to a page I've been to before, it will load everything from cache nicely, and then REPLACE THE CACHE WITH SPINNERS THAT NEVER LOAD THE CONTENT. Sometimes it will do this with a page I've never visited before, ie it will load the page and then replace it with the spinners and never load. Worst of both worlds. Grinds my gears. The _old_ reddit always just worked. I never had to reload the page multiple times, sometimes giving up entirely. Obviously I'm still using the site or I wouldn't be complaining, but like, what exactly was wrong with old reddit again?
    - ehsankia 6y ago
roenxi 6y ago
> JavaScript is required for this page. Offering a second opinion; they barely know how to display text without using JavaScript. There is a lot of room for technical improvement.
- worble 6y ago
  Yeah, enabling JS meant it's already worse than old reddit, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt just to give it a read and enabled JS, only to be greeted with a neverending spinner. No console errors either, just the eternal spinner of doom.
chaosharmonic 6y ago
It also devours resources compared to the old version
ashtonkem 6y ago
My biggest anger with new reddit is that it just doesn’t work. It’s rare that a video will play twice without a reload, infuriating if you want to share a funny video with a spouse, and it will regularly go into a mode where all videos stop working until a complete reload happens. This has been a consistent drag on my reddit usage now that my primary consumption of sites like this is via my iPad, and I suspect I’m not alone.
- michaelmrose 6y ago
  Do you use reddit on a mobile browser?
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    Yes, I said that.
    - michaelmrose 6y ago
      Reddit has been garbage on mobile browsers for a while have you tried any of the unofficial reddit apps? I in particular like RIF but there are several.
      - ashtonkem 6y ago
        As a general rule, I avoid native apps for most social media platforms, just to avoid over-using them.
- lazyjones 6y ago
  It's the same on desktop Safari... The video playing experience is just awful.
- supuun 6y ago
  Yeah, video playback sucks both on desktop and mobile websites
shpongled 6y ago
If I was forced to use new reddit rather than old reddit I would probably never visit the site again. I can't stand the new version.
IncRnd 6y ago
You can always go to old.reddit.com to use the older reddit interface.
- Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
  Only until they inevitably turn it off
tootahe45 6y ago
50% of the functionality also doesn't even work on Firefox in my experience.
- kdtsh 6y ago
  Seeing as new reddit feels like new Google as far as UI elements are concerned, I’m not surprised - it’s made for Chrome.
- nichos 6y ago
  I didn't use reddit much anymore, since it's mostly a cesspool of politics, but if I have to, this plugin is very useful: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-redirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-re...
  - jabl 6y ago
    I just found this one. It's awesome! Also, on mobile it gets rid of this "switch to the native app" nag!
sbmthakur 6y ago
I joined Reddit when the new UI was the default. I was relieved when I discovered old.reddit.com and i.reddit.com. I use them on PC and mobile respectively.
throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
> the UI is a breath of fresh air compared to new Reddit I agree. I find this interface extremely readable (It clearly displays "JavaScript is required for this page") and simple to use; I close it and move on to something that actually works. Very minimal and intuitive. I approve.

I have to say, at the very least, the UI is a breath of fresh air compared to new Reddit. New Reddit is just...I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just feels awful to look at.

glenstein 6y ago

Absolutely. It's not a bad interface, and for better or for worse I think this is critically important to get right, and was a huge part of Mastodon's success. I think so many other well-intentioned projects fail because of inscrutable interfaces, so it is good to see the UI taken seriously.

TulliusCicero 6y ago
Oh, has Mastodon been successful? I haven't heard much about that.
- riffic 6y ago
  The ecosystem is very successful: https://twitter.com/freemancw/status/1276287684814594048 https://twitter.com/freemancw/status/1276287684814594048
  - codetrotter 6y ago
    It’s a little bit ironic that the post you link to was posted on Twitter though, isn’t it? :^) Teasing aside, I like Mastodon. I’ve used it a bit myself too, and I have a profile on an instance of it.
    - buzzkillington 6y ago
      Success is not a meaningful metric. Gopher is a success when you browse wikipedia on it.

ehsankia 6y ago

While I agree that new reddit is awful, I still much prefer old reddit to this. Also what's up with this new trend of having the main content width-restricted, but not the header [0]? The new GitHub UI that went live this week has the exact same problem on wide screens. What kind of UX designer ever approved such a mess and why do so many sites do this? The main UI itself, again very width restricted, but also has strange paddings [1] which limit severely the area for the title (which is the most important UI element). Doesn't really make sense to me. The vertical centering is a bit of a mess, and the size of icons is also either way too big or way too small [2]. [0] https://i.imgur.com/gZEWEdJ.png https://i.imgur.com/gZEWEdJ.png [1] https://i.imgur.com/nayP548.png https://i.imgur.com/nayP548.png [2] https://i.imgur.com/XZPToxy.png https://i.imgur.com/XZPToxy.png EDIT: Huh, I hadn't used new reddit in a long time, I actually took a look now and it seems like it has improved significantly. I actually don't hate it as much, it looks much closer to old reddit now, with full width content and much less padding [3] [3] https://i.imgur.com/c1QBucR.png https://i.imgur.com/c1QBucR.png

buzzert 6y ago
Agreed. At least old Reddit didn’t require JS to load anything a didn’t show spinners every time you clicked on something.
- IggleSniggle 6y ago
  "New" reddit (not that new anymore) still _frequently_ just gets stuck on the spinners. Also with some frequency, when navigating to a page I've been to before, it will load everything from cache nicely, and then REPLACE THE CACHE WITH SPINNERS THAT NEVER LOAD THE CONTENT. Sometimes it will do this with a page I've never visited before, ie it will load the page and then replace it with the spinners and never load. Worst of both worlds. Grinds my gears. The _old_ reddit always just worked. I never had to reload the page multiple times, sometimes giving up entirely. Obviously I'm still using the site or I wouldn't be complaining, but like, what exactly was wrong with old reddit again?
  - ehsankia 6y ago

roenxi 6y ago

> JavaScript is required for this page. Offering a second opinion; they barely know how to display text without using JavaScript. There is a lot of room for technical improvement.

worble 6y ago
Yeah, enabling JS meant it's already worse than old reddit, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt just to give it a read and enabled JS, only to be greeted with a neverending spinner. No console errors either, just the eternal spinner of doom.

chaosharmonic 6y ago

It also devours resources compared to the old version

ashtonkem 6y ago

My biggest anger with new reddit is that it just doesn’t work. It’s rare that a video will play twice without a reload, infuriating if you want to share a funny video with a spouse, and it will regularly go into a mode where all videos stop working until a complete reload happens. This has been a consistent drag on my reddit usage now that my primary consumption of sites like this is via my iPad, and I suspect I’m not alone.

michaelmrose 6y ago
Do you use reddit on a mobile browser?
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Yes, I said that.
  - michaelmrose 6y ago
    Reddit has been garbage on mobile browsers for a while have you tried any of the unofficial reddit apps? I in particular like RIF but there are several.
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      As a general rule, I avoid native apps for most social media platforms, just to avoid over-using them.
lazyjones 6y ago
It's the same on desktop Safari... The video playing experience is just awful.
supuun 6y ago
Yeah, video playback sucks both on desktop and mobile websites

shpongled 6y ago

If I was forced to use new reddit rather than old reddit I would probably never visit the site again. I can't stand the new version.

IncRnd 6y ago

You can always go to old.reddit.com to use the older reddit interface.

Andrew_nenakhov 6y ago
Only until they inevitably turn it off

tootahe45 6y ago

50% of the functionality also doesn't even work on Firefox in my experience.

kdtsh 6y ago
Seeing as new reddit feels like new Google as far as UI elements are concerned, I’m not surprised - it’s made for Chrome.
nichos 6y ago
I didn't use reddit much anymore, since it's mostly a cesspool of politics, but if I have to, this plugin is very useful: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-redirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-re...
- jabl 6y ago
  I just found this one. It's awesome! Also, on mobile it gets rid of this "switch to the native app" nag!

sbmthakur 6y ago

I joined Reddit when the new UI was the default. I was relieved when I discovered old.reddit.com and i.reddit.com. I use them on PC and mobile respectively.

throwaway_pdp09 6y ago

> the UI is a breath of fresh air compared to new Reddit I agree. I find this interface extremely readable (It clearly displays "JavaScript is required for this page") and simple to use; I close it and move on to something that actually works. Very minimal and intuitive. I approve.